Verso NYC Reviews and Tickets

83%
(116 Reviews)
Positive
90%
Mixed
8%
Negative
2%
Members say
Entertaining, Clever, Masterful, Absorbing, Funny

About the Show

Amazing Theatricals presents one of the world’s top magic artists, Helder Guimarães, in his brand-new show.

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Member Reviews (116)

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721 Reviews | 221 Followers
75
Clever, Delightful, Entertaining, Funny, Cliched

See it if You would enjoy a fun magic show with audience participation. Sleight of hand, card tricks, mind reading, objects vanishing and reappearing

Don't see it if You want something deeper or more spectacular. It's light entertainment. I saw through most of the tricks but still enjoyed it.

MJK
677 Reviews | 190 Followers
84
Entertaining, Masterful, Riveting, Magical, Mystifying

See it if you want to see a master class in illusion & sleight of hand. Guimaraes elevates a magic show to a study in imagination, truth & skepticism.

Don't see it if you aren't willing to be charmed & wowed by a master of trickery. Though you may avoid if you hate magic, this show might change your mind.

505 Reviews | 729 Followers
92
Absorbing, Clever, Great writing, Thought-provoking, Dizzying

See it if you enjoy magic mixed with great storytelling and philosophy. Helder is a terrific performer--charming, funny, and engaging.

Don't see it if you don't enjoy magic. (Then again, I'm generally not a fan of magic, but I found myself captivated.) Read more

488 Reviews | 316 Followers
91
Absorbing, Entertaining, Funny, Ambitious, How does he do it??!!

See it if You enjoy seeing amazing magic, mind games and card tricks. Lots of laughs. Unbelievable performance!

Don't see it if You want a conventional show with a story. This is a very charming one man show with incredible card tricks and mind games. Read more

470 Reviews | 113 Followers
94
Enchanting, Clever, Masterful, Refreshing

See it if You enjoy REALLY good magic tricks (especially the newspaper one). What's in the envelope you grab during intermission will surprise you

Don't see it if If you don't like magic shows, even fast-paced ones such as this (that runs 1 hour 53 minutes including intermission).

404 Reviews | 76 Followers
70
Been there, done that

See it if you enjoy magic tricks but all those tricks have been done before; nothing new here.

Don't see it if you want NEW tricks. The guy talks too much and does not do enough stuff. It is NOT sleight of hand.....he does tricks. Nothing magical.

402 Reviews | 86 Followers
80
Enchanting, Entertaining, Fun, Magical

See it if you enjoy well executed card tricks and illusions, want to see a fun alternative to a play or musical, and love the chance to participate

Don't see it if you're looking for a show that has more of a story. There is definitely a thread throughout and bookending, but this is a magic show first.

291 Reviews | 708 Followers
68
Derivative, Not as surprising as it needed to be, Padded

See it if you haven't seen the popular explosion of "wow" inducing illusions on network TV these days, & you like audience participation.

Don't see it if you're looking for a fast paced show with tricks you've never seen before. Most of these feel dated and a little tired.

Critic Reviews (13)

The New York Times
September 28th, 2016

"The fun here is in searching for potential telltale clues and fake-outs as he casually ambles his way from sleight-of-hand flimflam to pseudo-telepathic reads...It’s harder to fill a whole evening when you’re alone onstage, and while it sports some impressive feats, the new show, directed by Rodrigo Santos, feels padded...It’s easy to share his excitement. Not just because the tricks are impressive, but because their buildups are so protracted that the payoff comes as a relief."
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Time Out New York
September 28th, 2016

"Verging on two hours long, including an intermission, it includes what seems like a lot of padding, at a cost to its sense of enchantment...Routines that would be very impressive at a table in a nightclub are less of a wow in a 200-seat theater...Many of the bits are familiar...Although 'Verso' is performed and designed with skill, it evokes more admiration than excitement. Guimarães is great with his fingers, but there aren’t enough new tricks up his sleeve."
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Theatermania
September 28th, 2016

"It almost feels like a seminar on the psychology of the swindle...In a craft as reliant on the suspension of disbelief as magic, it's a ballsy choice to ask viewers to sharpen their BS-detectors, but that's exactly what Guimarães does consistently through this thought-provoking show. Luckily for him, he's an incredibly gifted parlor magician...With 'Verso,' Guimarães has created a magic show for our paranoid age...He tells us to trust no one, not even him."
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BroadwayWorld
September 29th, 2016

"The trick here is that Guimarães never seems completely confident that what he's doing is going to work, and when he seems to have been foiled a couple of times, his imperfection adds to the illusion that everything else is real. At two hours, the show does lose steam now and then, especially when Guimarães philosophizes about different realms of reality and what is and isn't possible, but 'Verso' is an engaging charmer providing good clean family fun."
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Talkin' Broadway
September 29th, 2016

"While performing his feats, Guimarães displays a sly confidence that borders on cockiness, but because he does enough to earn it (how did he get the name of a completely random country on the back of that card?!?), he's nonetheless engaging onstage. During the in-between scenes, when he attempts to contextualize his magic, a lot of that rough-edged likability evaporates and he becomes more mechanical...It's just short of the sparkle that separates the very good from the great."
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Theatre is Easy
September 28th, 2016

"Perhaps he could warm up his presentation style. He can come off a little 'Corporate Motivational Speaker' in his delivery of well-practiced anecdotes. When he’s directly interacting with the audience, however, he is generous and friendly...Add Guimarães’s pure technical skill and easy rapport with volunteers to a well-polished, balanced routine of 'mentalist'-type predictions and lie-detector tricks...and 'Verso' is an evening you’ll remember for a very long time."
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Theater Pizzazz
October 7th, 2016

"His philosophical patter is smart enough to intrigue those who ‘get it’ while peppered with colloquialisms to draw in others whose only desire is to be tricked...Two thirds of the somewhat padded evening (buildups are prolonged, some deceptions feel redundant) is occupied with card tricks...Long cons are well utilized with set-ups early on and revelations much later...The evening, if a bit long, is enjoyable; well performed and well directed."
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Stage Buddy
November 22nd, 2016

"You will be stunned, no doubt about it. But there isn’t much to this show beyond being fooled. There is barely a touch of atmosphere, hardly any romance or wonderment. For conjuring to be its most effective it should have a sense of poetry, a raison d’etre...Magic fans should definitely check out this talented performer; he didn’t win that trophy for nothing. But the show’s concept, script and staging do nothing to elevate Guimarães’ performance above that of an evening of bafflement."
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